Finance
India-Israel agricultural cooperation has received a significant boost with the announcement, made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jerusalem last month, of the establishment of more Centres of Excellence as high-tech agricultural hubs and their expansion to the village level to ensure that the use of modern farm techniques percolates directly to the grassroots.
Centres of Excellence (CoEs), which are high-tech agricultural hubs designed in collaboration by Israeli experts and Indian agricultural institutions, have been at the heart of the India-Israeli partnership.
While 32 of these are now operating, an additional 18 are still in development.
During his visit to Israel, PM Modi announced their decision to increase this number to 100 to ensure increased productivity and income for Indian farmers.
These CoEs have applied Israeli innovations and best practices in drip irrigation, fertigation, protected cultivation, pest management, nursery technology, and water-efficient horticulture to the Indian context.
Thousands of Indian farmers in provinces ranging from Punjab to Karnataka have been trained in novel strategies to improve crop quality and quantity.
While comprehensive statewide revenue data is still being collected, early field surveys reveal that farmers participating in CoE and related programs have reported greater monthly net incomes due to improved crop quality and reduced input waste, according to an article in The Diplomatist magazine.
“It is in this backdrop that Prime Minister Modi, along with his Israeli counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced a new grassroots-centric initiative known as ‘Villages of Excellence’. This shift — from isolated demonstration plots to community-level transformation — seeks to embed Israeli technologies directly into Indian village ecosystems. It means farmers won’t merely visit a CoE site; they can experience tailored irrigation systems, satellite-based soil monitoring and real-time decision support right in their home districts,” the article noted.
“This enduring partnership in the agriculture sector has ensured mutual benefit for both sides. Indian farmers have learned new ways of saving water, increasing yields and boosting incomes. Israel’s precision systems — from drip and micro-sprinkler irrigation to automated fertigation — can cut water use by up to 40-60 per cent compared to traditional surface irrigation, a vital improvement in water-stressed regions of India,” the article says.
It emphasizes that in CoE sites, horticulture crop yields — tomato, capsicum, and melon — have increased by 20 to 40 percent in just a few seasons as growers embrace controlled conditions and calibrated fertilizer regimes.
Furthermore, training in post-harvest handling and integrated pest management minimizes losses while increasing market value for smallholders, resulting in significant gains in areas like as Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
“Likewise, Israeli farmers and agritech sectors have also benefitted as Indian demand provides Israeli technology firms — especially those specialising in Artificial Intelligence-driven crop analytics, sensors, and automated irrigation systems — with a vast field of laboratories and a commercial pathway which makes their partnership mutually beneficial,” the article added.
Source: IANS
